Reading Time: 4 minutes San Diego | CNS Canada — “Building partnerships and growing markets” was the theme of the National Ethanol Conference in San Diego — a theme members of the U.S. Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) believe aligns well with an increased focus on national security and protectionist policies under new President Donald Trump. Speaking Tuesday, the head […] Read more
U.S. ethanol sector pumped on Trump
The machines, they are a changin’
Farm machinery is undergoing a historic period of evolution, with rapid changes that will soon show up in your sheds
Reading Time: 6 minutes Earlier this fall, it was announced that Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize for Literature. I have to admit, I didn’t see that coming. Not to take anything away from his talent, it’s just that I wouldn’t have expected to hear he had won that kind of award, any more than I would have expected […] Read more
Could camelina be ‘the next canola?’
You’ve heard the pitch on this oilseed before, but this time it could actually be true
Reading Time: 4 minutes [Updated Dec. 12, 2016; at bottom] – Jack Grushcow says the sky’s the limit for camelina, and he isn’t referring to the brief but well-publicized test when it was used for jet fuel a couple of years ago. Grushcow is CEO of Linnaeus Plant Sciences, which owns Smart Earth Seeds, a company developing new camelina […] Read more
U.S. grains: Soyoil jumps on new U.S. biofuel targets
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade soyoil futures surged nearly seven per cent on Wednesday after the U.S. government released final requirements for biofuel use for next year, analysts said. The strength in soyoil lifted soybeans, but CBOT wheat closed lower and corn was narrowly mixed, pressured by a stronger U.S. dollar and […] Read more
U.S. ups biofuel requirements in win for Big Corn
Reading Time: < 1 minute New York | Reuters — The U.S. government on Wednesday announced finalized targets for biofuel use for next year, requiring that energy companies blend 19.28 billion gallons of renewables into the nation’s fuel supply. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in a statement set the target for conventional biofuel, or ethanol, at 15 billion gallons and […] Read more
From cornstalks to sugar
Farmers ready to participate in bioeconomy
Reading Time: 5 minutes With consumers pushing for a greener, more sustainable chemical industry, agriculture is poised to play a key role in the new bioeconomy, especially with renewable resources that can be converted into bioenergy and biobased chemicals. This time, farmers aren’t waiting around to find out how they can get involved. A group of farmers in southwestern […] Read more
U.S. biodiesel executives plead guilty over fraud scheme
Reading Time: 3 minutes New York | Reuters — Two men pleaded guilty in a U.S. court on Wednesday to conspiracy, fraud and making false statements related to the U.S. government’s controversial policy designed to boost use of renewable fuels, according to court documents. The case comes in the last four weeks of a contentious U.S. presidential election campaign […] Read more
Trump biofuel proposals echo those of backer Icahn
Reading Time: 2 minutes New York | Reuters — Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump on Thursday appeared to weigh into a debate over a controversial U.S. biofuels program with a proposal that would back the position of billionaire investor Carl Icahn, one of his wealthiest backers. In a factsheet on economic policy, the Trump campaign slammed a system of […] Read more
Clinton campaign studying alternative to U.S. ethanol mandate
Reading Time: 3 minutes Washington/San Francisco | Reuters — Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign has solicited advice from California regulators on how to revamp a federal regulation requiring biofuels such as corn-based ethanol be blended into the nation’s gasoline supply, according to campaign and state officials. The move is the clearest sign yet that, if elected, Clinton […] Read more
Report finds ethanol, bioenergy no threat to food security
Reading Time: 2 minutes New York | Reuters — Bioenergy produced from crops does not threaten food supplies, researchers funded by the U.S. government, World Bank and others said in a report Tuesday, dealing a potential blow to critics of the country’s biofuels program. There is no clear relationship between biofuels and higher prices that threaten access to food, […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
